Abdul Latif Baloch, better known by his screen name Saqi (2 April 1925 – 22 December 1986), was a Pakistani film and television actor. He is known for mostly playing supportive roles in the

Lollywood Lollywood is Pakistan's film industry, which has served as the base for both Urdu- and Punjabi-language film production. Lahore has been the center of Pakistani cinema since independence in 1947. However, with the Urdu film hub largel ...

movies. He starred in more than 500

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Punjabi, Sindhi, and

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

films.

Early life and family

Saqi was born on 2 April 1925, in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, where his father had been appointed during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later stayed there for a while as a railway employee. Saqi belonged to a Baloch family settled in

Dadu District Dadu District (), () is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Sindh, Sindh Province, Pakistan. With headquarters in the city of Dadu, Pakistan, Dadu, the district was created in 1931 by merging Kotri and Mahal Kohistan (later Jamshoro) tehsils fro ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. His mother was a

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

from Iraq. His brother ''Abdul Karim Baloch'' served as a general manager at PTV, Karachi Center.

Career

Saqi could speak more than 10 languages and his ability to speak English fluently helped him gain a small role in an international film '' Bhowani Junction'' (1956) which was partly shot in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. His first Urdu film ''Ilteja'' was released in 1955. He appeared in a leading role along with Nighat Sultana in the movie ''Lakhpati'' (1958). In 1959, he played a role of a snake charmer in the film ''Nagin''. Another important film in his career was the 1967 release '' Lakhon Mein Aik''. He was mostly cast in character and villain roles. Saqi worked in over 500 Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Pashto films. He also produced two films, ''Paapi'' (1968) and ''Hum Log'' (1970), but they couldn't get box office success. He also played significant roles in TV plays like ''Deewarein'', ''Jungle'', and ''Gardish''. He introduced two male playback singers Mujeeb Aalam and Masood Rana to

films. His last film ''Dushmani'' was released in 1990, four years after his death.

Personal life and death

From his first marriage, Saqi had two girls and four sons. Later, he also married the actress Yasmeen Khan who used to work in

films. Saqi died on 22 December 1986.

Selected filmography

* ''Iltija'' (1955) * '' Raaz'' (1957) * ''Lakhpati'' (1958) * '' Sassi Punnu'' (1958) * '' Raaz'' (1959) * '' Nagin'' (1959) * ''Raat Kay Rahi'' (1960) * ''

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

'' (1960) * '' Rahguzar'' (1960) * '' Izzat'' (1960) * ''Bombay Wala'' (1961) * '' Zamana Kya Kahega'' (1961) * ''

Shaheed ''Shahid'' ( , , ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acqui ...

'' (1962) * ''Hazar Dastan'' (1965) * '' Aag Ka Darya'' (1966) * '' Lakhon Mein Aik'' (1967) * '' Mera Ghar Meri Jannat'' (1968) * '' Zarqa'' (1969) * '' Afsana'' (1970) * '' Naseeb Apna Apna'' (1970) * '' Mohabbat'' (1972) * '' Angarey'' (1972) * '' Farz'' (1973) *'' Naya Suraj'' (1977) * '' Seeta Maryam Margaret'' (1978) * '' Permit'' (1979) * '' Behan Bhai'' (1979) * '' Pakeeza'' (1979) * '' Chotay Nawab'' (1980) * '' Aap Ki Khatir'' (1980) * '' Muqaddar Ka Sikandar'' (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saqi (actor) 1925 births 1986 deaths Pakistani film actors Baloch male actors People from Dadu District Pakistani male film actors Pakistani television actors 20th-century Pakistani male actors